Has anyone had any experience using Vegas on the bootcamp side of a MacBook Pro, for example? Is it too slow and clunky or just fine?

You should find it's just fine.

The reason I need to know is that I'm on the verge of branching out in an entirely new direction--editing HDV. And the software question is crucial. Either I get a MacBook Pro (much more expensive) and thus create the option of having several different software directions to go with its bootcamp side. Or get a PC notebook (cheaper) like a Sony FW with a built-in blu-ray burner. So you're saying that using bootcamp with a PC-based editing system won't be a limitation....

Vegas has a great user interface, but it is not strong in terms of realtime playback performance with HD formats. I don't have experience with Macs, or Macs running Vegas under bootcamp, but I suspect the performance degradation due to bootcamp won't make that much difference since native Vegas with HDV is already not very smooth. And rendering is very s-l-o-w as well. Personally, I'm mostly using Edius now for HDV projects as a result.

Richard

I edit AVCHD on Vegas 8 pro on my Macbook with no problems. It is somewhat slower than my quad core desktop, but you can work with it.

Can you create blu-ray discs with Edius?

Grass Valley / Canopus NLE - The Digital Video Information Network (http://www.dvinfo.net/conf/grass-valley-canopus-nle/)

I use Vegas on my Mac Pro/bootcamp all the time. Editing HDV runs better with this combo than it did on the quad core PC that the Mac replaced!

That's good to know! Now only if Apple would get behind blu-ray and come out with a new generation of Macbook Pros, huh? I can get a Sony FW laptop equipped with blu-ray burner and everything else matching a top-end MBP and get it for HALF the price!

Just to clarify I'm using a Mac pro not a macbook pro. Sorry, I don't know how well a macbook pro will do.

I am using a mac pro and it works great. XP only sees 4gbs of ram fyi but if you are using 8.0 it will atleast use all 4 cores.

I use Vegas on a MacBook Pro by way of Bootcamp and it works fantastic! I am editing full XDCAM HD 1920x1080 30p on the timeline with no trouble at all. My PC could not do this so the Mac architecture makes a difference...!

Interesting...so I guess the question becomes (and I don't think anyone could answer this), is the Sony VAIO FW notebook series "better" at processing HD video than a Macbook Pro. Or to phrase it differently, given that a MBP is almost 2x more expensive than the Sony FW, is it twice as good at dealing with (and this is key) HDV footage primarily in a documentary-style production?

Tough to say for sure... I have a Sony Vaio as well and it chokes when trying to edit, yet I have seen a few people use a customized Vaio (wiped Hardrive clean installed new OS then only NLE and they seem to be doing alright...so it may be just an optimization issue with OS and other Apps... however my experience has been the MacBook Pro has been worth every penny... esepecially the new High Rez screen.. I think the architecture of the Motherboard and Buss routing etc. are just better optimized.

I'd just like to add that I have an Imac, and have run Vegas in boot camp and Parallels. It works fine, EXCEPT, the audio is screwed up. Audio is fine in any other windows application, but plays back weirdly in Vegas.

When playing back from the timeline, I get these digital sounding beeps and boops, almost like dropped frames or overly compressed audio files, but there's nothing wrong with the source material. Unfortunately, these beeps and boops end up in the renders, not just playback.

I tried updating the sound drivers for Windows, and it seemed to help for a while, but now it's crappy again. Basically can't use Vegas for anything.

It's Windows XP, if that matters.

I'd just like to add that I have an Imac, and have run Vegas in boot camp and Parallels. It works fine, EXCEPT, the audio is screwed up. Audio is fine in any other windows application, but plays back weirdly in Vegas.

When playing back from the timeline, I get these digital sounding beeps and boops, almost like dropped frames or overly compressed audio files, but there's nothing wrong with the source material. Unfortunately, these beeps and boops end up in the renders, not just playback.

I tried updating the sound drivers for Windows, and it seemed to help for a while, but now it's crappy again. Basically can't use Vegas for anything.

It's Windows XP, if that matters.

I had something similar until I got a Presonus Firebox and now it's super quite and very true to whatever I recorded. Its a great soundcard.

Can you put new sound cards in an Imac, though? I thought it was kind of a closed system. Anyway, I think it's a Vegas problem 'cause everything else works fine.

Has anyone had any experience using Vegas on the bootcamp side of a MacBook Pro, for example? Is it too slow and clunky or just fine?

Apple works fine. But I wouldnt invest in two workflows. You will end up with twice as many files and multiple operating systems.

At the end of the day you need less complication so that your archive is as simple as possible.

Sounds interesting. I have been wanting to go the way of the Mac but I love Vegas too much to let it go. Jason, are you able to read SxS directly in bootcamp with Sony's transcoder sw? I m thinking of running both FCPS2 and Vegas Pro 8 in the same MBP. Not sure if that would screw things up big time!

Of cse, the final concern is blueray support. I'm wondering if the Macs would be supporting them in the next generation of MBP.

Can you put new sound cards in an Imac, though? I thought it was kind of a closed system. Anyway, I think it's a Vegas problem 'cause everything else works fine.

It's a firewire soundcard so you just plug it into an open firewire port and install the software.

Sean, that is exactly what I am using FCP on Mac and Vegas on XP/Bootcamp... SxS works awsome in the express card slot with either OS... Workflow is excellent!! Best of both worlds...